// Forever 21 faces £8m lawsuit from Ariana Grande over “lookalike” model
// The fast fashion retailer created an online campaign which had striking similarities to her music videos
// Grande has 163 million Instagram followers, making her the most-followed woman
Forever 21 is being sued by Ariana Grande after it used her trademark style to promote its products without her permission, including adverts featuring a “look-alike model”.
The US singer filed the $10 million (£8.2 million) lawsuit in a Los Angeles district court over allegations that the fast fashion retailer created an online campaign, including a spin-off cosmetics line Riley Rose, which had striking similarities to her music videos, such as hit song 7 Rings.
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Forever 21 said: “Even a single social media post by Ms Grande can garner fees of several hundred thousand dollars, and her longer-term endorsement arrangements command fees in the millions of dollars.”
Grande has 163 million Instagram followers, making her the most-followed woman on the photo and video sharing social media platform.
Images from Forever 21’s Instagram account cited by the lawsuit showed a model wearing purple camouflage clothing and a pink headband and boots similar to those worn by Grande in the 7 Rings music video.
The images appear to have been taken down from the retailer’s social media accounts.
A Forever 21 statement denied the allegations, adding that the fashion firm has “worked with (Grande’s) licensing company over the past two years”.
“We are hopeful that we will find a mutually agreeable resolution and can continue to work together in the future,” it added.
The news comes a week after reports that Forever 21 was reportedly preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing.
According to Bloomberg, the US-based fashion retailer wants to secure a potential debtor-in-possession loan to take the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Forever 21 also recently revealed it was considering options to downsize its business in the UK market or pulling out completely after previously reviewing its UK store portfolio.
It now only has a handful of stores after the said review, including a flagship on London’s Oxford Street.
The fashion retailer currently operates more than 800 stores across the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
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